Arc 6, Chapter 20: Fragment

On the tips of their toes, they made it as quickly as they could towards the sound. "You're sure there's nothing?" Fumeko asked again as they climbed up a secluded stone stairwell.

"Uncertainty alludes me. The scattering vermin are certain to be within these desecrated walls. Beyond any such disturbances lied no other form to mine awareness."

"How reliable is your echolocation?" Jotou queried at the top of the stairs.

Tiffany from below looked up, "Do not lay doubt upon mine steadfast ability," she exclaimed in a hush.

"Whatever the case," Jotou glanced down both sides of the castle's second floor hallway. "Stay on your guard," she unsheathed her sword and did not light it up in sparks.

They followed, not pausing to check the other rooms or examine the torn tapestries and pried apart sideboards. No sudden movements, lest they alarm the sound to stop.